Officers Stephen Ochman, Justin De La Bruyere, Jason Sawyer, Greg Kiselow, Matt Jacobsen, and Patrick Williams receive the Meritorious Service Award for their help in responding to a mentally disturbed man who threw his intestines at them in May.Dan Ivers/NJ.com

HACKENSACK — Dozens of officers were honored for their achievements in police work last week at the Hackensack police union's first-ever merit awards.

Det. James Dalton, the union's vice president, said that the force had been plagued controversy and plenty of bad press in recent years, which often took a toll on morale. Even within the union, where former Chief Ken Zisa allegedly used the threat of discipline to impose his will, the divisions ran deep.

"Despite everything that's gone on within the city and the police department, there's still a lot of hard working officers out there doing the job every day," he said.

"We're all about morale, camaraderie and brotherhood, and we want to bring people together of every rank. We might not be the one's responsible for it being broken, but we're still in this together."

The ceremony, which took place in Hackensack City Hall's Council Chambers on Oct. 24, recognized more than 30 officers.

They included officers Stephen Ochman, Justin De La Bruyere, Jason Sawyer, Greg Kiselow, Matt Jacobsen and Patrick Williams, who were recognized for their bravery in a May 27 incident during which a mentally disturbed man threw pieces of his intestines at them, and Detectives John Dalton, Ryan Weber and Alexander Lopez-Arenas, who helped solve a two-year-old robbery by linking a YouTube video to the crime.